A general approach to the study of conformational changes and reactions of nucleic acids and proteins by resonance Raman spectroscopy is outlined. It will permit the study of dilute solutions of biomolecules with concentrations comparable to those used in UV adsorption studies. This involves excitation with tunable ultraviolent radiation from a frequency doubled cavity dumped dye laser that is mode locked by synchronously pumping it with a mode locked argon ion laser. The nitrogen heterocycles of the nucleic acids and aromatic side chain groups of the proteins serve as the chromophores. Since fluorescence, particularly of trace impurities, becomes more of a problem with excitaton in the ultraviolet, a time resolved Raman instrument for rejection of flurorescence is outlined. To test the extent to which scattering from individual bases of nucleic acid mixtures can be enhanced by proper choice of excitation frequency, we propose to examine first mixtures of mononucleotides with base composition corresponding to native polynucleotides. This will be followed by studies of the melting of penicillium chrysogenum mycophage RNA and calf thymus DNA. Electrophilic attack perturbs the ultraviolet absorption of nucleic acids, and we propose to evaluate the resonance Raman technique for studies of reactions of this type using CH3Hg(II) as a probe ion.